I was writing half a year ago about how to identify Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and about the exceptions from the gate-torii rule. One remarkable exception is the Kanda Myojin Shrine from Tokyo, which although is a Shinto shrine features a gate like in the Buddhist temples.

On the exterior side, the gate has the Zuijin guardians, but inside there are two statues representing… horses. This is because here is enshrined Taira no Masakado, a respected and famous samurai who lived in the Heian period, whose emblem was the tethered horse…

Zuishin-mon, Kanda Myojin Shrine, Tokyo

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Japanese thatched roofs